Mischa's Meltdown Went From Dental to Mental

Troubled actress tells mag oral surgery led to her breakdown

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Actress Mischa Barton says she's fine now, but back in July, dental surgery sent her on a downward spiral.

Updated at 9:00 AM PDT on Friday, Aug 28, 2009

Mischa Barton's recent problems were dental before they went mental, the actress says in a new interview.

Barton, who plays a model on "The Beautiful Life," was checked into a psychiatric ward be her mom in July, told TimeOut that her problems began after surgery to remove wisdom teeth.

Celebrity Meltdowns

"It was a nightmare," the 23-year-old stunner told TimeOut. "I’ve never had surgery before—it all went wrong and I had to have a second surgery and it almost delayed shooting because it was a nightmare to me, because I couldn’t deal with the thought of not getting there on time. So with the travel, and surgery and prep for the show—it was hell."

Barton said she turned to painkillers to get through the ordeal, but with all the pressure from her hit show and traveling obligations, she was soon overwhelmed.

"I was down in the dumps about everything there for a while. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom about things and have to get the most stressed-out just to feel better again. I got completely stressed-out and couldn’t handle everything, and now I feel really in control.

She stopped short of calling her situation a nervous breakdown and would not say whether she had a drug problem. She confirmed it was her mom that checked her in to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but only elaborated off-record, for the TimeOut scribe.

"I’ll tell you that story but not the whole world," Barton said. "The funny thing is, if all this happened in New York, no one would care."